Various systems have been developed to automatically fill large quantities of prescription bottles for use primarily in mail order pharmacies. Such systems can significantly reduce the time, expense and error rate associated with manual prescription dispensing.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,762 to Charhut describes an automated prescription bottle filling system (sold by Automed Technologies, Inc., under the trademark OPTIFILL®). The system automatically fills, labels, caps, and sorts prescription bottles in accordance with prescription orders stored in a database. Some automated prescription dispensing systems are pallet-based. Pallets loaded with empty prescription bottles are transported to dispensers containing various prescription drugs where each bottle is filled with the prescription corresponding to the prescription information on the bottle label. An example of a pallet or carrier based system is the AUTOSCRIPT II™ system originally manufactured by Automated Prescription Systems (now McKesson Automated Prescription Systems) in the early 1990s.
Such automated prescription dispensing systems require some manner of quality control to ensure that the system is functioning properly. This quality assurance function is often performed by a pharmacist. Computerized systems have been developed to aid pharmacists in checking the accuracy of the prescriptions. For example, Williams, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,995, discloses a prescription checking work station, which includes a bar code scanner. To check the prescription, the pharmacist first scans a bar code on the bottle label, which retrieves data regarding the prescription. The retrieved data includes a digitized image of the original script and a reference image showing what the prescribed drug should look like. The retrieved information and reference image are displayed on a computer screen. The pharmacist checks the prescription before it is given to the customer by visually inspecting the contents of the bottle to ensure that it is consistent with the original script and reference image.
Prior systems have also been developed to capture a digital image of the contents of the prescription bottle. Mail order pharmacies have employed systems that automatically scan the bar code on the bottle and photograph the contents of the filled bottle before capping. The pill image is linked to the bar code on the bottle and stored in a database record associated with the prescription order. During the quality control process, the checking pharmacist can scan the bar code on the bottle to retrieve the image of the contents alongside a reference image. The image of the contents can then be compared to the reference image during the quality control process, without opening the bottle.
Such checking systems have a number of significant shortcomings. For example, in order to read the label information and scan the bar code on the bottle, the checking pharmacist must physically handle the bottle. This physical handling introduces an opportunity for human error. A major benefit of automated prescription dispensing systems such as that described in Charhut is the accuracy of such systems. Generally, the introduction of human intervention at any step along the fulfillment process increases the error rate. Thus, the increase in human error rates associated with the physical handling can defeat the purpose of the quality control system. Human handling also increases the opportunity for theft or other breaches of security, which is of particular concern when filling prescriptions for controlled substances. Furthermore, the pharmacist must be present at the place where the bottles are being filled to physically scan and inspect the bottle. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system that allows the pharmacist to check the accuracy of prescriptions being dispensed from a remote location without physically handling the bottles.